


Never Tell Me the Odds

by Kirito_Potter



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Comic-Con, Fic Exchange, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Soulmates, Star Wars References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:00:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24322408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirito_Potter/pseuds/Kirito_Potter
Summary: "I cannot believe you made me fly to San Diego of all places," he says, feigning annoyance as they pass a stall filled to the brim with plush versions of anime characters. (A few months ago, Alex wouldn’t have known he was feigning.)"I haven't a clue what you mean," Alex smirks. "I didn't make you fly anywhere."
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Comments: 14
Kudos: 200
Collections: RWRB Spring Fling Exchange





	Never Tell Me the Odds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kriseis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kriseis/gifts).



> Allison, I really hope you like this!!

Alex knows he told Henry to dress as a  _ Star Wars _ character, but he's still incredibly amused when he sees him step out of the limousine. He's wielding a blue lightsaber. His tunic is made of flowy white fabric, tied at the waist with a chunky black belt and hanging over tan tights.

He's unmistakably dressed as Luke Skywalker.

"I didn't think you would actually do it," Alex snorts as Henry walks closer.

Shaan trails behind, far enough away to give them some space but close enough to listen in and keep an eye on them. The limousine driver says something to him through the window, then drives off.

Henry shrugs, what seems like a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I thought it would be fun. I've never done cosplay before."

"Not very princely, though," Alex tuts. "What will the press say?"

Henry huffs, rolling his eyes. "It's a convention. What was I supposed to do, bring a crown and scepter?"

Grinning, Alex gives his shoulder a friendly shove. "Look at you! I'm finally getting you to open up. I wasn't sure you could even take off that gaudy getup."

Henry’s eyes are warm, but in a way Alex can't decipher.

"We'll be late if we don't head in," Henry says, breaking eye contact to glance towards the convention center across the street.

A huge crowd is milling outside the doors, chatting loudly amongst themselves as they wait for the doors to open.

Shaking his head, Alex says, "Better to wait until the doors are clear. We'd get crushed."

Henry shoots him a sly look. "Like being trapped in a garbage compactor?"

Alex barks out a laugh. "Exactly like that, yeah."

"Would that make Shaan C-3PO?" Henry muses. Alex finds himself watching the way he purses his lips.

A few minutes pass, and Alex stares down at his costume, fiddling with the empty holsters on his belt. "I wish I could have brought fake blasters. It really sells the look. I don't look much like Han without them, especially with the…" he gestures at his face and hair.

Henry barely turns his head to drag his eyes up and down Alex's outfit. His gaze is intense.

"You do just sort of look like a lost cowboy." His lips quirk with suppressed laughter. "Who left his hat at home."

Alex pouts. "Are you just saying that because I'm from Texas?"

And to Alex's surprise, Henry opens his mouth and says, in his perfectly posh accent, "Yeehaw."

Alex outright cackles, throwing his head back as his shoulders shake. "Wait-- wait, say that again, I need to make it my ringtone for you."

"Absolutely not."

The crowd across the street all starts to rush forward at once, filtering in through the doors. Henry straightens up, eyes wide. Alex has to physically reach out and put his arm across his chest to stop him from crossing the street, like his mom catching take-out boxes in the front seat when she brakes.

When the majority of the early birds have made it inside, Alex looks both ways (yes, he's an adult, and yes, he's going to do it every time) and crosses, motioning for Henry to follow.

They reach the front doors, and Alex turns expectantly to Henry. “After you, Your Highness.”

Henry makes an exasperated noise, but there’s a glint of amusement in his eyes as he reaches into a convenient pouch on his belt. Alex is about to comment on how practical his cosplay is when a look of horror descends upon him, so clearly devastating that Alex can feel it rolling off him in waves.

“No,” Henry breathes.

“Please tell me--”

“I can’t find my badge.”

Henry starts frantically patting himself down, eyes wide as he glances to Shaan for help. In the panic, Alex fumbles with the pockets on the front of his vest to check for his own badge.

“Um,” Alex says.

Henry turns back to him, still digging into the little pouches.

Alex holds up his and Henry’s badges. “I have it.”

Henry’s expression is unreadable.

“I didn’t think you gave it to me, but you must have,” Alex shrugs weakly. He can’t remember Henry handing it over, but they were both tucked away neatly in his vest.

Henry thanks him profusely as he takes his badge, looping the lanyard over his head. Alex is still incredulous as they scan themselves in. Henry’s badge works just fine.

Alex pushes open the door and steps inside, but Henry hesitates. Alex turns, offering him a hand. He takes it, and Alex pulls him inside the building.

Henry is in awe, if his bright eyes are anything to go by. Alex has to do his best not to laugh as he watches him take it all in. As soon as he’s noticed, though, Henry draws up his shoulders, sticking out his chin defiantly, and starts stomping his way through the crowds.

"I cannot believe you made me fly to San Diego of all places," he says, feigning annoyance as they pass a stall filled to the brim with plush versions of anime characters. (A few months ago, Alex wouldn’t have known he was feigning.)

"I haven't a clue what you mean," Alex smirks. "I didn't  _ make _ you fly anywhere."

"Oh, no?" Henry bites back, a smile playing on his lips now too. "Says Mister  _ You absolutely have to, Henry, and I'm not taking no for an answer _ ?"

Alex snorts, recalling the long string of texts he sent on the subject. There were a lot of interjecting ones from Henry as he tried to break up the incessant flow, each one simply reading:  _ No _ .

"You know as well as I do, that was an empty threat," he drawls. "You came because you wanted to."

Henry fiddles with his lightsaber, and it flashes. "Yes, well. I never said I didn't."

Poking his shoulder teasingly, he adds, "Think of this as a diplomatic venture."

"Diplomatic?" Henry gets the smallest little dimples when he laughs, and Alex's stomach goes weird. Probably unrelated. "In what way does this compare to meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada?"

"It's a show of… you know…" Alex searches for the right word, making vague gestures with his hands. "Trust?"

"The only thing I trust you to do is push me into something expensive," Henry says in a deadpan.

Alex rolls his eyes at first, but then another thought occurs to him. "There's something! This is an extension of our damage control. To make us look like friends."

Henry puts on a wounded expression. "Do you mean to say we are not already friends, Alexander?"

Alex shoves him a little, snickering, and Henry shoves him back.

Alex supposes, to some degree, they  _ are _ friends. In a weird way. He's still not really sure how it happened, but here he is, in matching cosplay with Henry, laughing with him, and he doesn't want to murder him for once. He doesn't remember when that changed, exactly.

He doesn't hate that it did.

Henry gasps, and when Alex turns to look, he's pointing at a stall. Alex allows himself to be dragged closer, only because Henry seems so genuinely excited and he's never seen him like this.

The stall is lined with huge paintings of alien landscapes-- literally alien. They're modeled after planets in  _ Star Wars. _ One of Tatooine has a miniature R2 half-hidden behind a dune, and another of Hoth at night has several moons visible in the sky. Despite being based on the movies, the paintings are full of texture and visible brushstrokes, and it's slightly mesmerizing.

"These are beautiful!" Henry is saying to the artist.

"Uh-- thank you!" She says, wide-eyed. "Not to be rude, but are you… um…"

Her gaze swings to Alex, and her eyes go even wider somehow.

"Oh. Oh, wow." She clears her throat. "A prince just told me he likes my paintings."

Henry prattles on as if he hasn't heard her. "How much are these? I'd love to buy one."

She stammers through a transaction, and by the end of it Henry is happily holding a carefully rolled up painting of Bespin.

"Would you like me to hold that for you?" Shaan asks over his shoulder.

"No, it's alright," Henry says easily, his accent curling pleasantly around the words.

He thanks the girl again, and she nods faintly, still clearly in shock. Alex feels about the way she looks as he trails after Henry, watching his giddy expression.

"What?" Henry asks upon catching him staring.

"Uh-- nothing," Alex manages. Then, quieter, "I don't think I've seen you smile this much over anything."

Just for a moment, Alex swears he looks flustered, then his expression goes stiff and stilted.

"I smile."

"Well, yeah, of course," Alex says, putting his hands up in a fumble to backtrack. "I just-- I mean, I was trying to say--" He shakes his head. “Maybe this trip was exactly what you needed, you know?”

Henry shrugs, but says nothing.

Right. They’re not exactly nemeses anymore (June would call that word choice dramatic, but it’s not, not with the way they treated each other), but Alex doesn’t know if they’re actually  _ friends _ yet, not the way Henry suggested earlier. There’s something there Henry isn’t telling him.

A metallic clang behind them makes Alex jump, but when they turn to look, Shaan is grabbing a metal thermos off the floor.

“Sorry, sorry,” he says, smiling weakly as he stands up.

"That looks familiar," Alex says, squinting at it. "Zahra has one just like it."

Henry's eyebrows pull together. "You don't think…"

For a moment, Alex isn't sure what he means. Then it hits him. "Oh, no way! Shaan, do you think Zahra is your soulmate?"

Shaan smiles coyly. "I know, actually." His expression shifts. "I was hoping to return it to her on this trip, but I erroneously assumed she would be accompanying you."

"Ah, sorry," Alex frowns. "She doesn't really like to babysit me."

"That's quite alright," he says, shaking his head.

"Man, that's lucky, though, knowing who it is," Alex sighs, starting to wander between the stalls again. "I mean, having a soulmate sounds like it should be so romantic, but it's just frustrating."

"What do you mean?" Henry asks, following close behind.

Alex shrugs. "I mean… I don't know. Having someone out there so close to you that even their stuff ends up with you if they can't find it themselves? It's like your hearts are tied. That's the sappiest shit I can think of."

He feels himself smiling just thinking about it. Henry makes a small noise beside him, so quiet Alex isn't even sure he's heard it.

Alex shakes his head. "But just once, I wish she'd drop her driver's license or something, instead of a fountain pen." He turns to Henry, rolling his eyes. "I get so many fucking fountain pens."

Henry laughs, but his eyes aren't in it.

"What kind of stuff do you get?" Alex asks.

"Notes from class, mostly." His eyes cut to Alex's. "Lists." He looks away again, staring ahead as he walks. "Once, I found a rosary. Hanging off the lamp on my nightstand."

Alex is reminded of something. "I lost a rosary a few years ago. My mom nearly killed me." He snorts. "She's not even that Catholic! But it was made of real pearls, and she was livid."

Henry is watching him with a guarded expression.

Alex reaches up to play with his own hair, but it's gelled back. "I hope your soulmate didn't get in too much trouble when she lost hers."

Henry is quiet for a moment. "I hope so, too. It was quite pretty." Then, "I still have it."

"It's a shame you can't just give things back," Alex says thoughtfully.

"What, lose things on purpose?" Henry laughs.

"Yeah. If that worked, I would have been sending letters to my soulmate as soon as I could write my own name. Dropping them out the window, 'accidentally' leaving them in bathroom stalls." He makes heavy air quotes around the word  _ accidentally. _ "God, I always leave water bottles in bathroom stalls by mistake. Do you do that?"

Henry smiles and shakes his head.

Something occurs to him then, watching Henry in his costume. "Do you think my soulmate likes  _ Star Wars _ ?"

Henry seems amused by this question. "Excuse me?"

"Well, I just don't know that I can spend the rest of my life with someone who doesn't like  _ Star Wars _ ," Alex says matter-of-factly.

"What makes you think they wouldn't?" Henry asks.

"Well, I've never found anything  _ Star Wars, _ as far as I can tell."

He smiles. "If it's something they like, they probably wouldn't lose it."

Alex pauses, then nods. "That makes sense."

"And, hypothetically," Henry muses, "if they don't know much of the franchise, you could always be the one to introduce it to them. A good marathon, you know? You could be the one to instill that love in them."

Something in his chest twinges at that. "Sounds… romantic, actually."

Alex sees a brightly-colored sign in the corner of his vision, and it’s almost embarrassing how easily it distracts him.

“No way! We can play a demo of the new  _ Monster Hunter _ !”

Henry is still looking at him, eyes soft. “Do you want to go in there?”

Alex nods, grinning, and they step into the line. Shaan opts to look at more of the stalls, promising to stay in the area.

By the time they reach the front of the line, Alex is bouncing on his heels and grabbing at Henry’s flowy sleeves, squealing into his ear. He’s probably being a little louder than he needs to be, but this is “So cool!” He takes the joycons with shaking hands and pulls a hammer from the inventory.

Before he knows it, his time is up, and he turns to hand the controllers to Henry, but he looks surprised.

Alex squints. “It’s your turn, dude.”

Henry glances down at the joycons, and up at Alex. “I…”

He clears his throat. “Uh, sorry. I figured you wanted to try.”

He starts to pass them to the person behind them, but Henry reaches out and stops him. “Here, I’ll play.”

“You don’t have to--”

“I want to try.”

Henry sets his things down on the table and takes the controller. As Alex watches over his shoulder, Henry fumbles with the buttons for a moment. His tongue pokes past his lips seemingly unconsciously as he tries to figure out how to grab the longsword in his inventory. The velociprey pack attacks him before he can even move, his health quickly ticking down.

“You have to dodge!” Alex says, gesturing wildly. “Move out of the way!”

“Wait, wait,” Henry groans. “I’m just trying to--” He finally manages to wield the sword. “How do I attack?”

“Not by dying,” Alex says. “Can you just, like, move even a little bit?”

Henry does his best to get the character away from the monsters, but they chase after him, never relenting in their attacks. Still, Henry looks excited, even as he gets beaten down. By the time his turn ends, he’s smiling again.

“What’d you think?” Alex asks as they make their way back to the end of the line. He spots Shaan and waves him over.

“It was… fun,” Henry admits, shrugging weakly.

Alex grins. “Okay, your turn. What do you want to see?”

He bites his lip, and Alex can see the gears turning. “I’d like to just… walk around for a bit, I think.” He glances over. “Maybe we’ll find something fun along the way.”

Nodding, Alex gestures ahead. "Lead the way."

They're stopped a few times by con goers asking for selfies, but it's unclear whether it's because of their cosplay or because it's  _ them. _ (Maybe both.)

Alex is about to suggest they check the schedule for panels when Henry laughs and jogs towards another stall. Alex glances up at the  _ Star Wars _ font on the overhang.

"A photo booth?" Alex asks as he steps up to the stall.

Henry is leaning over a box that seems to be filled with props and costume pieces.

"We're already in cosplay," Alex says, stepping closer.

Henry turns around, straightening up, and wiggles his eyebrows at Alex. "What do you think?"

Alex feels his face go warm. "That's, uh…"

"The golden bra." Which Henry is holding over his chest almost flirtatiously.

"Yup."

Henry snickers, tossing the bra back into the box. "You should see your face. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were blushing."

Alex tries to protest, but it all comes out jumbled. "Look, everyone knows Leia was a bunch of people's, like, sexual awakenings."

Henry's eyebrows shoot up, and he crosses his arms over his chest. "So you're saying I looked sexy?"

"I-- that--" Alex should stop digging before this hole gets any deeper.

"Come on, let's take some pictures," Henry says, grabbing his wrist. "You can post them on Twitter if you like."

Still flushing, Alex lets himself be dragged towards the space backdrop.

"You know," Alex says, "It would be so cool if we could use that painting you bought as a backdrop. Blow it up and put it on a greenscreen."

Henry goes very still. "What did you say?"

Alex frowns. "We could… use the painting?"

Henry groans, tugging at his hair. "Please tell me I didn't leave it somewhere." He looks to Shaan, who's standing just outside the booth. "Do you have it?"

Shaan puts his empty hands up.

"Shit!" Henry says. Then, again, "Shit!"

"Hey, relax," Alex says. "It must have been at  _ Monster Hunter _ . We'll just go back and get it."

Henry rushes towards Shaan. Alex starts to step out of the booth, but something catches his eye. He stops, his heart in his throat.

Carefully, Alex kneels in front of the box of props. There, rolled up and laid just beside the gold bra, is what looks like a sheet of paper. With a shaking hand, Alex takes the painting and unrolls it.

Bespin.

He stands and turns to Henry, now standing with Shaan. He holds out the canvas by one end. It flops open to reveal the painting.

Henry stares. "Did you--"

"I guess you didn't leave it there," Alex says, but he knows it's a lie.

"Oh." Henry chews on his bottom lip. "Alright. Thank you, Alex."

He takes his painting back, and this time he hands it to Shaan, who gently places it in a bag he seems to have procured from thin air.

"Do you still want a picture?" Alex asks, but his ears are ringing as he says it.

"Ah, sure," Henry says, but his smile is strained.

They slip back into the booth, and Henry offers to take the pictures. He sets up his phone on the small table across from the backdrop and puts it on a timer. He jogs back to Alex and pulls out his lightsaber, flicking his wrist to make the blade come out. He poses fiercely, and Alex tries to look equally battle-ready, but he feels like he's drowning.

Five.

Has Henry figured it out yet?

Four.

First the badge.

Three.

Now the painting.

Two.

They shouldn't have been where Alex found them.

One.

Really, there's only one explanation.

Click.

Henry is already grabbing his phone to look at the picture. Alex is just trying not to show how deeply in shock he is.

He thinks back. He always thought Henry was stuck up, just some snobby brat. But once they actually met-- sure, he can be a bit obnoxious, but Henry is actually sort of  _ nice. _ Hell, look at him now, smiling innocently at a photo of himself in a costume from a movie from his childhood.

They get along so easily, don't they? Now that Alex has given him a chance.

Slowly, it makes more and more sense.

He walks over to him, the blood rushing in his ears starting to go quiet.

"I think I need to talk to you," Alex says softly. "In private."

Henry glances up from the screen, eyes wide. "Alright."

They step out of the booth, and as Henry tells Shaan to wait for them, Alex takes deep breaths, looking for someplace private in one of the least private places he's ever been. He drags Henry towards a door and they step out into the sun. There are cosplayers milling about, but they’re far away, and they don’t seem to have noticed the two of them.

Alex leans back against the wall, trying to look relaxed and confident, but the moment he meets Henry’s eyes, he loses his cool and has to stand up straight again, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Um. So,” Alex mumbles. “You and I both know that painting was back at  _ Monster Hunter. _ And yet…” he shrugs as best he can without taking his hands out of his pockets.

“And yet?” Henry asks, rubbing the back of his neck.

Alex swallows. “I found it.” And of course Henry knows what that means, but he has to say it. “Henry, I… think we might be soulmates.”

To Alex’s surprise, Henry sighs. His smile is bright. “Took you long enough, you numpty.”

Alex splutters. “What-- what is that supposed to mean?”

He laughs, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “Alex, I’ve known for years.”

“You--  _ what? _ Henry, are you serious?”

Henry looks relieved. That’s the only word for it, really: completely, finally relieved.

Something else occurs to Alex. “Henry?”

He nods.

“I… am really, really dumb.”

“Yes, I know,” Henry teases.

“No,” Alex groans. “I mean--” He shakes his head. “I am such an idiot.”

Alex takes Henry’s face in his hands and kisses him. It’s risky as hell, but he doesn’t know how he’s gone this long without doing it.

It turns out, Henry is a great kisser.


End file.
